The advent of modern endoscopic surgical procedures (e.g. laparoscopic procedures) has enabled the performance of complex excisional surgery through minimal access incisions of approximately 1 centimeter. Such procedures may be utilized to excise or resect relatively large volumes of tissue, tumors, organs and the like. The extraction and removal of such excised tissues, tumors, organs or the like is, however, sometimes problematic because such excised tissue, tumors, organs or the like are often too large or bulky to be removed directly through the minimal access (e.g. 1 cm) endoscopic incision. Also, the excision, manipulation and removal of certain non-benign matter (e.g. infected tissue, fecally contaminated segments of bowel, cancerous tumors) is complicated by the need to contain such non-benign matter in a manner that will prevent or deter dissemination or spread of such non-benign matter within the body cavity.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for new appliances and apparatus for containing, manipulating, morsellizing or debulking, and/or removing excised tissues, tumors, organs or other matter, through relatively small minimal access incisions.
A surgical tissue bag and method for percutaneously debulking tissue is purportedly described in U. S. Pat. No. 5,037,379 (Clayman et al.).
A surgical tissue sac for use in endoscopic surgical procedures is presently available commercially under the name ENDOPOUCH.TM. (Ethicon, Inc., Division of Johnson & Johnson, Route 22, P. 0. Box 151, Somerville, N.J. 08876).
The surgical tissue containment sacs of the prior art may present certain shortcomings in that such prior devices (a) lack optimally efficient and/or safe means for inserting/retracting in the containment sac, (b) do not adequately open or fully expand the containment sac when inserted into a body cavity through a minimal access incision, (c) lack means for maintaining directional orientation of the bag opening during intracorporeal usage, (d) lack sufficient transparency to permit ease of viewing through the wall of the containment sac and/or (e) lack means for facilitating passage of instruments into the containment sac for purposes of treating, grinding, debulking or removing material from the interior of the sac.